


Love is Not Supposed to Stop

by starfleetblues



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: England AU, Gen, M/M, Summer Vacation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-23
Updated: 2015-09-10
Packaged: 2018-04-10 21:16:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4407986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starfleetblues/pseuds/starfleetblues
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Leo goes on a fourteen day vacation to Alnwick, Northumberland, England, he doesn't expect to fall in love. Then he meets James, and his whole vacation with Geoff turns into something else entirely.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is nowhere near finished but I wanted to get up what I had! Hopefully I'll be done in the next few days with the next part and can get that up soon!  
> I totally went to Alnwick this summer for two days on my trip to London (I love Harry Potter sue me) so this is based on my trip except there's no romance in my life at all hahahaha

Kirk’s B&B was a humble stone cottage in Alnwick, Northumberland, England. Winona Kirk ran it with the help of her son, James, now that Sam had gone off to university in Scotland, and James would soon follow suit. Nevertheless, Winona enjoyed her business, and cherished every guest who came through her humble home. Many of them were Americans, reminding her of her past life before George was positioned at an American base outside of London and the entire family had to make the long move. She was currently expecting another pair of Americans on holiday, two medical students named Leonard and Geoffrey who had booked a two week stay, taking up two of her three rooms.

Leonard McCoy was lost, and Geoff wasn’t helping.  
“Leo, I thought you knew where you were going,” he complained, leaning on his suitcase. “We’re lost, let’s just ask for directions.”

Leo groaned in defeat. “Alright, you’re right. I’m sorry, I’m totally disoriented. Excuse me,” he said, noticing a boy maybe four years younger than he walking the other direction, “do you happen to know where I can find Kirk’s B&B? It’s on Enterprise Street?”

“Yeah, I’m actually headed there myself,” the boy said, his accent letting the ls slip. “I’m James, my mum runs it. It’s not far, just a few hundred meters up the road.” He gestured in the direction they had just come from, and Geoff groaned. 

“Thanks, James,” Leo said gratefully as they started to walk with their suitcases. “So, can you tell us what’s fun to do here?”

The blond eyed two Americans. “How old are you? Both over 18?”

“Um, yeah, he’s 22, I’m 21,” Geoff said, surprised. “Why?”

“You can both drink here. That’s what’s fun to do, unless you like looking at trees,” James said bluntly. “Oh, or the vintage bookstore. That’s my favorite place, it’s about a ten minute walk up the road. Turn here,” he added, pointing to the right down Enterprise Street. “Mum’s been expecting you two, we’ve got everything ready. One of you is in Sam’s room, right next to mine-Sam’s my brother, he’s off at uni so mum’s turned it into a guest room, and the other one is right across the hall. I don’t remember who’s where, but mum will know. We’re right here,” he turned up a driveway leading to a three story stone cottage, with a neatly lettered sign on the gate. Unlocking the door, he called up the stairs. “Mum, I’m home! And I found the Americans on my way home!”

“Thanks, love! Hello boys, it’s nice to meet you,” Winona finished, a little out of breath as she ran down the last few stairs. “I’m Winona Kirk, and you must be Leonard and Geoffrey.”

“It’s great to meet you, Mrs. Kirk. I’m Leo, and this is Geoff,” Leo said, shaking her hand. “May I ask where you’re from?” Her accent was much lighter than her son’s, and she sounded almost American to his ear. 

“Call me Win, boys, and I’m from Iowa, dear. My husband, God rest his soul, was in the Air Force and we moved here so he could be a liason between the two countries before he passed a long time ago. I couldn’t stay in the South, and I couldn’t afford to move back to the States, so here we are,” she said, sounding understandably sad. “But let’s get you boys your bags,” she said, grabbing two keys off of the table and waiting for them before starting up the stairs. “Right, Leo, you’re right in here. This is my older son’s old room, you’re right next to James if you need anything, and Geoff, you’re right across the hall here. Here are your keys, I’ll let you both get settled in now,” she handed them each a key and smiled kindly as she ducked into her younger son’s bedroom. 

\-------- 

“So, where do you want to go to dinner?” Geoff asked as he sat down on the bed in Leo’s room, and Leo shrugged. “I don’t know. Want to just hit that pub we saw? Pub food has a reputation for being awesome, probably for a reason.” 

Geoff shrugged. “Sounds good to me, I’ll go grab my shoes and then we can go whenever you’re ready.”

Leo pulled on his own shoes, and struck by bravery, he stuck his head into James’ room. “Hey, Geoff and I are going to the pub for dinner, care to join us?”

“Hmm?” James looked up from his textbook and blinked a couple of times, pushing his glasses back up on his nose. “Oh, no thanks. I have a physics exam tomorrow, have to study up. Maybe next time, though. I really appreciate the invite.”

“Okay. Next time, for sure,” Leo agreed, and strode over to join Geoff at the top of the stairs. “So, dinner?”

\--------

Geoff was apparently allergic to cod, as they discovered that night. His reaction wasn’t severe enough to need a hospital, but he was vomiting for several hours and Leo forbade him from leaving the bed aside from using the toilet, as James called it. As it was Friday night, James had invited the two of them out, but Leo didn’t want to leave his friend. Stubborn as ever, Geoff insisted he would be fine alone if the two of them went out, so Leo pulled his thick blue sweater from his suitcase and met James in the front hall, hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans. 

“So, where are we going?”

James just smiled and opened the door for his guest. “The best place in town. You’ll love it, or my middle name’s not Tiberius.”

Leo raised an eyebrow. “Ouch. Mine’s Horatio, don’t feel too bad.”

James laughed, and began pointing things out as they passed through the town. There was a war memorial, the bookstore he had mentioned, a hospital, the local pool, and a lot of cottages. They passed several restaurants before James ducked into Caffe Tirreno, an Italian place in the town center. The waitress recognized James and sat the pair at the window after a brief conversation in Italian that left her laughing, and Leo couldn’t help the pang of jealousy that tore through his heart. 

“So, what’s good?” he asked, trying to be nonchalant as he picked up his menu and turned it over. 

“Do you trust me?” James asked, and Leo just stared at him. Sighing, the younger boy repeated the question.

“I do,” Leo answered honestly.

“Then let me order for you,” James said, reaching over to take the menu. “What do you want to drink?”

“Um, water is fine. You don’t have to-”

James waved his hand. “No, I enjoy it. Gives me a chance to brush up on my Italian. I’ll deny it if you tell anyone, but I’m trying to catch up to my friend Nyota-she’s best in our year. I think she speaks eleven languages fluently, and I only speak three-English, French, and German. I’m getting better in Italian, but it’s tricky. So is Russian, I have a lot of trouble with that, though I’m mostly trying to learn it so I can talk to the new kid a little easier. He’s a physics genius, and I’d love to pick his brain on some ideas I have, but he doesn’t speak English very well.”

“Do you want to be a linguist, then?” Leo asked, honestly intrigued. “That would be a great career, or an interpreter.”

“Nope, I want to study physics. I’m trying to get into Oxford for uni, it’s the best in the country for physics and it would be incredible to get to go there. I have the grades and the A levels, I just don’t have the money. I’d need a huge scholarship to be able to go. I’ve been applying for everything I can find, so all I can do is hope, I guess,” James started tracing shapes on the tablecloth as he talked about the money issues he faced, and Leo’s heart broke. “But enough about me, what about you? I barely know you,” James said, looking up from the table, and Leo laughed. 

“I’m not that interesting, promise. Just a kid in medical school on vacation in England.”

Before James could push, their waitress came back, and the blond ordered quickly, and Leo completely missed the conversation. James was nearly fluent, and he spoke so quickly that Leo probably wouldn’t have been able to understand even if he spoke a single word of Italian. Their waitress giggled as James winked at her, and she took their menus and left as James turned back to the American.  
“No, see, a kid in medical school on vacation in England is all I know about you, and I want to get to know you, Leonard. What’s your story? Where are you from? Do you have a focus? What are your parents like? You know everything there is to know about me, now I want to know about you.” James raised his eyebrows as he took a drink of his freshly delivered water with lemon, and Leo sighed.

“I grew up in Savannah, Georgia, right on the coast. My parents had a house about a mile away from the beach, so I practically lived there in the summers when I was a kid. My dad was a lawyer, he spent a lot of time at the office and brought his work home a lot, but when he got sick, I just wanted to help him. I saw him tearing down people a lot, and I wanted to fix them. My mom was a high school English teacher, but when my dad passed away, she started working part time at the local bookstore for some extra money to put me through school. Dad’s life insurance would cover four years of undergrad at the University of Georgia as a pre-med student, but not the four years of med school I’m starting my third year of. My focus is orthopedic surgery, and I’m at the University of Mississippi, more commonly known as Ole Miss. I have to start applying for residencies at hospitals soon, and I’m hoping to either get in at the Children’s Healthcare Center in Atlanta or at the University of Iowa- they’re the best teaching hospital in the country. And that’s me,” Leo finished lamely as their pasta arrived. “I’m not terribly interesting.”

James laughed. “You’re incredibly interesting, Bones. I’ve never met anyone like you.”

Leo threw the balled up straw wrapper in front of him across the table at James. “Where the hell did ‘Bones’ come from?”

“Orthopedic surgery,” James said, as it were the most casual thing in the world. “That’s your focus, so your nickname is Bones.” He deftly returned fire with his own balled up straw wrapper, managing to hit Leo square on the nose and promptly cracking up as the med student glared across the table.

The rest of their evening was spent bantering, learning about each other, and throwing little half-smiles back and forth. James was four years younger than Leo, but Leo found himself not caring as he fell hard for the English boy. They walked back to the B&B in a comfortable silence, close enough to brush against each other and blush when they awkwardly made eye contact after James bravely slipped his hand into Leo’s.

“Why do I feel like I’ve just been on an incredible first date?” Leo finally asked when they were turning onto the proper street, and then began to stammer. “I mean-”

James chuckled and kissed Leo’s cheek. “Maybe because that was my intention,” he said quietly, stopping a few houses away. “If you’re alright with that, I mean.” His face flushed as his eyes dropped to his shoes, and Leo chuckled.

“If this was a usual date, I’d kiss you at the front door, but since we’re staying together, I guess your bedroom will have to be where we part ways,” he said softly, squeezing James’ hand, causing the younger boy to look up.  
“You mean,” James whispered, bringing his face closer to Leo’s, eventually close enough to whisper against his lips, “You’ve never kissed someone before you took them all the way home?”

“First time for everything, I guess,” Leo whispered back, before pressing his lips softly to James’. They stayed like that for a few minutes, lips moving gently against each other’s until they were both out of air.

“Do I still get that kiss at my bedroom door, or did I ruin your tradition?”

“Think it might be time for me to make a new tradition,” Leo murmured back. “Sooner we get to your bedroom, sooner I can kiss you again.” He tugged gently on James’ hand, and the younger boy grinned, falling in step with his new- date, he supposed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sometimes, you're just gonna have to wing it.

James led Leo back to the house, still holding his hand. They didn’t separate until they had stopped outside of James’ bedroom, where the blond shyly kissed Leo.

“Would you like to come in? It’s not great, but it’s better than the hallway, I suppose.”

“I’d love to, darlin’,” Leo replied, squeezing James’ hand and following him through the door. It wasn’t a huge bedroom, but it was alright for the teenager. He kept his room clean, much more so than Leo’s dorm room at Ole Miss. The desk in the corner had a stack of textbooks and a laptop, along with a single photo featuring someone Leo could only assume was Sam. It was a few years old, he guessed, from the slight differences in James’ appearance- longer hair, a little fat on the cheeks, and an absence of glasses. Sam was slightly taller and had hair a few shades darker, but there was no mistaking the family resemblance in their matching grins and sparkling blue eyes. What struck Leo the most was the presence of the planetary posters on the wall- there was one containing details and interesting facts for every planet in the solar system, including Pluto, as well as one for the Sun and Earth’s Moon, the Milky Way, and a carefully handwritten collection of Post-It notes detailing all of the information that had been gathered on Keplar 425-b so far. There was also a poster of the Space Shuttle Columbus on the wall, and Leo was willing to bet there were at least a couple more tucked away somewhere, along with the rest of the models to complete the collection of two that James had tucked on the top shelf of his bookcase.

“Are my walls more interesting than me?” James whispered, his lips right next to Leo’s ear, his hands sliding down the older man’s arms. “Because I can always take down the posters to keep you all to myself, Bones.”

“Hardly,” Leo murmured, turning to kiss James. “Just admiring how smart you are, darlin’.” 

James giggled and grinned, still kissing Leo. Gently, he started pulling the two of them towards his bed, until he tripped on the corner of his rug and fell, landing on his ass mere inches from the bed. “Shit!”

Leo landed on top of the blond, and before either of them, knew what had happened, they were both laughing. Leo pulled himself off of James, and finally managed to ask if he was okay in between wheezes.

“I mean, I’m embarrassed as shit and my ass is probably bruised, but yeah, I’m okay. You?”

“Yeah,” Leo managed before they both collapsed into laughter again, James howling in pain after slamming his head into the post his head was near.

 --------

They had finally parted ways long after midnight, and James woke Leo up at 10:00 the next morning.

“James? What are you doing?” Leo mumbled, hearing the other boy whisper in his ear.

“We’re going to the book store today, remember?” James sounded so excited that Leo hated to disappoint, but it was going to take a little more coaxing to get out of bed.

“Mmmn, just five more minutes,” Leo mumbled, and he felt James’ lips trail along the back of his neck and disappear. 

“Whatever you say, Bones,” he heard James call cheerily, and he groaned.

“Get back here,” he demanded, finally rolling over and opening his eyes, seeing James right over him. “Hi,” he greeted, getting a proper kiss this time around. 

“Good morning,” James said, pulling back to look Leo dead in the eyes. “Mum’s got breakfast downstairs, get dressed and come eat. Then we’re going book shopping.” He breezed out the door as if he hadn’t used kisses to bribe his... Whatever they were, Leo supposed, to get out of bed and go to the vintage bookstore. With some grumbling, he rolled out of bed and wandered over to his suitcase, pulling out his favorite jeans and green long-sleeved shirt, knowing that the shirt would bring out his eyes and James would hate him for looking so good when they were in public. After that morning, though, he deserved it and Leo didn’t feel bad at all for thinking that. 

Five minutes later, he was wandering into the kitchen, mussing his hair and smiling cheerily. “Morning, James, Miss Win.”

James looked absolutely murderous when he saw Leo’s shirt; Win was thankfully oblivious to this interaction. “Good morning, love. Is Geoff on his way down too?” She started piling a plate with eggs for him, and Leo paused.

“I’m not sure, I’ll go check on him.” He hadn’t heard his traveling companion moving about, and started back up the stairs, hearing James and his mother chatter about how dinner was the night before.

\--------

Half an hour later, the three boys were walking out of the cottage after Leo had to wake Geoff up again, already half dressed before he had climbed back into bed for another few minutes of sleep. Leo couldn’t blame him, he had pretty much been vomiting for two days straight and his body had every right to be exhausted.

“So, how was dinner?” Geoff asked cheerfully, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans as he walked.

Leo blinked a few times before he realized that Geoff was just making small talk and not trying to get them to admit that they had made out for half of the night. Luckily for him, James had smoothly stepped in and was raving about the pasta. 

“Bones and I had a great time, didn’t we?” 

“Huh? Oh yeah, it was a great night. I never knew that Jupiter had a moon completely covered in ice, did you, Geoff?”

Geoff chuckled. “No, I didn’t, _Bones_. Where did that even come from?” He looked back and forth between the two of them, and Leo just shrugged.

“Beats me, he just started calling me that,” he said, right as James explained “Because he’s an orthopedic specialist! It makes sense!”

Geoff just started laughing, and Leo and James couldn’t stop themselves from joining in.

\--------

They spent several hours in Barter Books, even finding several medical books for the two Americans, who were very excited to start reading them. So excited, in fact, that Geoff didn’t even notice as Leo followed James’ call to a dark corner to kiss him very thoroughly. The bookstore was huge, and it had many dark corners that Leo was eager to try out, but James was content to just trade a few leisurely kisses here and there.

He also insisted on buying them both the famed “Keep Calm and Carry On” posters that had been bastardized by the rest of the world in recent years, but had originated in that very bookstore. Both of them protested, saying they didn’t even have room to carry them home, but James assured them that they would, and if not, he would mail the posters before they left.

\--------

Leo spent his remaining days with Geoff and nights with James, helping him study or rewarding his good test scores with kisses. The three of them went to the movies two days before Leo and Geoff left, and when they got back to the house, James asked Leo for a moment alone.

“So, what’s going to happen? Like, with us. When you leave,” James asked anxiously, sinking on to his bed, and Leo took his hand.

“I don’t know, darlin’. Would you like to try to continue this? I mean, I only have a year left in school, and I could come work over here, if that’s what would make you happy.”

“No, babe, I can’t ask you to move here. I could move to the States, too, work for NASA-that would be a really great opportunity. How about we just start with letters and Skyping, and see where we go from there?” James wrapped his fingers into Leo’s and looked up at his - boyfriend, he supposed - as he finished, hope glittering in those clear blue eyes.

“Of course, darlin’,” Leo whispered, kissing James gently. “Of course.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!!!!  
>  the next part is going to be super emotional (blame my recent fall out boy binges sorry) but it's all going to be good i promise  
> the whole darlin/babe dynamic comes from me and my best friend, i somehow became darlin to him and he became babe to me and i wanted a different term for bones other than just bones, so i stole that from us  
> that book store really is real and the keep calm poster did originate there, which is super cool!!!!! i didn't get a chance to visit it, but if you're in the area, do it!!! it's gotta be super cool and i'm definitely going there when i get a chance to go back


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM TRASH I AM SO SORRY  
> I meant to have this up like, ages ago. But I got caught in the throes of packing, transferring files to my new computer, saying goodbyes, the first couple of weeks of school and all of those fun things. On a happier note, my first two weeks at college have been awesome! Expect a ton of University of Iowa McKirk AUs over these next four years!  
> It's not terribly long, but I wanted to get it up. The next part should (fingers crossed) be up within the week!

Leo didn’t get a chance to write James for nearly three weeks after he arrived home from his trip. Between unpacking and then suddenly moving into a new, bigger apartment with Geoff, he barely had any time to himself when he wasn’t working at the grocery store down the street. And even he could admit that the letter was painfully short, but he hoped to have more time to write by the time James had replied. 

They went on like that for several weeks, writing letters back and forth, each one becoming a little longer or shorter based on their time to write and the events of the prior week, until James finally suggested they pick a day to Skype for a few hours every week. Leo readily agreed, and so he found himself sitting down at his laptop at 1 pm on Thursday, 7 pm James’ time, and eagerly awaiting seeing his lover’s face. 

“Leo!” James exclaimed when the American answered the call. “It’s so good to see you! I miss you so much, you don’t even know. School is so boring when I can’t look forward to seeing you when I come home, and now everyone is making fun of me, saying I made you up.” He kept chattering on about school, and his new job at the bookstore, and how much pressure there already was on him to get into a good university, and Leo let him. He was just excited to see James’ face, he didn’t care if he never got in a word edgewise.

“Anyway, how’s school going for you? I’ve heard third year over there is rough, isn’t it?”

“Hmm?” Leo was startled by the shift in conversation, but recovered quickly. “Oh, everything’s good so far for me. Classes are getting harder, and so is balancing school with work, but I have to have a job to pay the bills, and the bills aren’t going to stop anytime soon. Rooming with Geoff helps, but we’re still not fully unpacked. We only have a coffeepot, two mugs, and two plates in the kitchen and we’ve lived here for close to two months. We’re both so busy that we don’t really have time to eat, let alone unpack,” Leo laughed, and James grinned. This was the highlight of his week- hell, his month, and if Leo wanted to babble about unpacking (or not, rather), well, James wasn’t going to stop him. Just seeing Leo’s face was enough.

“You know, I don’t have a picture of you to keep on my desk,” James mentioned nonchalantly at the end of their call, and Leo started. 

“Wait, you want a picture of me on your desk?”

“Well, yeah, so I can see your face all the time, Bones,” James was surprised. Didn’t Leo want to see his face too?

Leo glanced over to the lone picture on display on his desk, a touristy frame he had bought in a gift shop the night before they flew home. In it, there was a picture of he and James laughing in front of the castle that they had returned to many times, one that Geoff had taken when they weren’t paying attention. “Do you want me to send you the one I have? Geoff took it while we were at the castle. He has more of us too, I think there are even some in front of the book store.”

James lit up. “That’s a wonderful idea, love. I knew I kept you around for a reason,” he teased, and Leo rolled his eyes.

“Alright, I’ll email you some later. I have to go to class now, but I’ll write soon. Miss you lots,” Leo signed off, with James returning the sentiment.

\--------  
As Leo’s school work began to deepen, he began writing less and less, and barely had time for Skype dates. When he wasn’t in class, he was working, and when he wasn’t working, he was catching sleep wherever he could fit it in. James, on the other side of the world, was having the same problem: his A-levels were rapidly approaching, and if he didn’t do well, he could kiss going to Oxford goodbye. He might not even qualify for the astrophysics programs at other universities, so every waking moment was spent studying. He could do the maths problems in his sleep- calculus had never challenged him, but some of the biology problems he knew would arise would challenge him. He had never fully understood photosynthesis-why did it matter what the stoma did anyway? He didn’t want to be a botanist, he wanted to be an astrophysicist. Still, if he didn’t ace the general sciences exam as well as the physics exam, he wouldn’t be accepted. So he hit the books, too busy to even notice that Leo hadn’t written and he hadn’t written Leo.

They wrote intermittently, Leo’s letters far shorter than James’, who had a lot of free time now that he wasn’t in class any more. He had to wait for the results of his A-levels, pass them on to Oxford, and wait for the final decision on his acceptance to the university. Leo, meanwhile, was preparing for upcoming finals, and barely did anything except study. Biostats was kicking his ass- whose idea was it for him to take genetics, biochemistry, and psychology at the same time, on top of biostatistics and fulfilling his English requirement? That’d be his advisor, that’s right. At least next semester he’d only have to take the advanced version of each class, and he had finished the biostats requirement a semester early. But for now, he was dying. He slept on top of a book more often than not (regardless of if he was in bed or at his desk), and relied wholly on coffee to get through the day.

He didn’t open the letter he got from James. He fell asleep with it under the book he was reading, and forgot about it. The next day, he temporarily forgot about James entirely when he fell over onto the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life.

On the other side of the world, James received the letter he had been waiting for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leo's course load is concurrent with the third year track for a Biology major on the Pre-Med track at the University of Iowa (it's probably different at Ole Miss, but I can navigate the website for Iowa's biology program no problem so just go with it). As for Jim's A-levels, I'm kind of winging it. I know very little about the education system in the UK. All mistakes are mine and mine entirely. I apologize for any discrepancies, if I totally screwed something up, feel free to correct me and I'll do my best to correct it!  
> Also I'd apologize for the cliffhanger but I don't want to. Sorry not sorry.


	4. Chapter 4

“I can’t open it,” James said, holding the letter out to his mother. He wasn’t sure whether to be excited or nervous when the letter bearing a return address from Oxford, England, arrived, and now he was mainly panicking.  
Winona shook her head. “No, James. This is your future, you open it.” She was trying not to smile- back home in the US, they had a saying that thick envelopes are a good thing, as they contain all of the information you need to accept your place at a university. Sam had received a thick envelope from the Royal University of Kensington, and this envelope was too thick for it to be anything but good news for James. She wasn’t about to tell her son that though, she knew he would doubt her and just think she was trying to think positively.  
James took a shaky breath, one that matched his hands. “Okay. Do you promise to love me no matter what? I don’t even know where I’ll go if this is a no.”  
“Open the letter, James,” Winona said with a smile, and she could see her son visibly relax. He turned the envelope over and hastily ripped it open, the envelope falling to the ground as he pulled the stack of papers out. His eyes flew back and forth over the page, and he gasped.  
“I got in! I- Mum, I’m going to Oxford!” James yelled, jumping up and down a few times for good measure. Winona smiled and let him run his excitement down before hugging him tightly.  
“I never doubted you would, James. I’m very proud of the young man you’ve become,” she whispered.  
“Thanks, mum.” He would later tell that his voice was muffled by Winona’s shoulder, but they both knew his voice was thick with tears.  
“Well, I guess we have a lot of shopping to do if you’re going to be living so far away. Go accept your spot and we’ll catch a train to Morpeth tomorrow, love.”  
\--------  
Leo closed the door quietly behind him, knowing Geoff was likely asleep as it was well past midnight. He had been out with Jocelyn for hours, getting to know each other over coffee, and then dinner after their shared English lecture (how he hadn’t seen her before, he didn’t know. He must be totally oblivious, he thought), and he really enjoyed her company. He set his alarm for 5 am the next morning and crawled in between the sheets, fully dressed.  
The letter addressed to him in neat letters, a Royal mail stamp in the corner sat unopened and unread on his desk, a notebook thrown on top of it so only the blank corner stuck out.  
When he woke with his alarm, he only remembered dreaming of Jocelyn, and their coffee date at 9 am, when his shift at the grocery store would be done. He changed quickly and hopped on his bike, humming as he rode down the street.  
He didn’t notice he was barefoot until he was a block away from the store. “Fuck,” he swore quietly, turning his bike around and praying he wouldn’t be late. After all, it was store policy that no one could be barefoot (also, gross. Leo didn’t know where everyone else’s shoes had been. There could be dog poop on that floor.), including employees. Also, it was approximately cold as balls and dark as hell (translation: sixty-seven degrees Fahrenheit and sunrise), so he really hated himself in that moment. He got a sweater while he was at it. No sense in catching a cold, he thought.  
The day passed uneventfully after coffee with Jocelyn. His finals were rapidly approaching, so he studied in his favorite library, a cup of coffee next to him.  
\--------  
After he had accepted his place in the class of 2020 at Oxford, they sent him a list of things to do. They included, but were not limited to:  
1) Apply for student housing  
2) Send copies of final transcripts, including graduation day  
3) Attend a one-day orientation program to register for classes  
4) Announce his standing on social media (optional, but encouraged)  
5) Submit his insurance information and emergency contact in case of emergencies  
6) Buy all required course materials (he had to wait until he registered to do that, but it was still very important)  
And that was just the beginning. James didn’t own anything suitable to take to university. He would need to buy a new duvet, new sheets, new pillows, new blankets, new everything. Luckily for him, Winona had printed off several (eight, but who was counting?) packing lists that recommended everything from the basics to the things he would have forgotten (who remembers to pack hangers? Now, James, but not before reading that list!).  
The Morpeth shopping was minimal, so Winona paid for a ticket to King’s Cross for James. Sam would meet him at the station, and they would take the Hammersmith and City Line from King’s Cross/St. Pancras to Liverpool Street and then change to the Central Line to complete the journey to Stratford, where they would depart and shop at Westfield Stratford Mall, the largest mall in all of Europe. James had been there once before, and he couldn’t deny that he was excited to go back. Plus, he could probably talk Sam into eating at Wahaco, the amazing Mexican street food restaurant, when they were done.  
James spent several hours in the mall, buying everything from bedding to kitchen supplies, clothes to towels. By the time they were done, he was laden with bags and had to purchase a small cart to carry everything to the station in. Sam assured him that it would come in handy for buying groceries at college, so James felt better about wasting the money. He was very pleased with his choices- he had chosen grey and gold as his color scheme, and was very excited to see how it all came together when he moved in. The gold sheets were his favorite, but he was most excited about the model solar system that he had purchased for his desk.  
He would spend the night at Sam’s apartment in Kensington before taking a train to Oxford in the morning for his two-day orientation, during which he would sleep in a dormitory on campus and take a more in-depth tour before registering for classes. Sam, meanwhile, was taking the train back to Alnmouth with James’ purchases and to visit their mother for a few days. James would have to take the train back to King’s Cross and board another to home without any help. All in all, five days away from home. It wasn’t a big deal, he would be moving away for a much longer length of time in two months. He had to get used to being away from his mother.  
And ignoring panic attacks about being alone forever. Those were no biggie either. He wouldn’t be alone. There were 20,000 students on campus. One of them would befriend James. It was statistically impossible to not befriend someone in that large of a student body.  
Spock would like that, James thought as he tried to control his breathing. Using statistics and logic to calm himself about not having any friends. His best friend was going to St. Andrew’s University outside of Edinburg.  
Oh, fuck. Why did he have to think about missing Spock?  
Here came the nausea again. He had just passed that. Shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, this doesn't really go anywhere. I promise it will soon. I'm just out of time for the day and I really liked this ending point. The next part will be up soon!  
> James' checklist for Oxford is based off of mine for Iowa. I have no idea if that's a thing they do in the UK or not. Same with orientation, I'm drawing entirely on my own experiences for this (oopsie)  
> Also, this mall is really real and really cool! If you're in the London area and have a day to go out to Stratford, do it! It's also home to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, where the 2012 Olympic Games were held. It's a short walk to the Park from the mall, and the Park is huge. So beautiful, though.  
> And the Tube information is accurate. I did my trip to Stratford that way this summer! Is it bad that I still partially have the Tube routes memorized? No? Okay, good. I totally use that in my everyday life in Iowa.

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from the song 'I Will Remember' by train because I went to their tour with my mom and have been listening to the new album nonstop because I'm trash  
> Oxford is really the best in the country for physics, I looked it up! It's also fourth in the world  
> University of Iowa is soon to be my home so that's part of why that hospital is in here, also because it really is one of the best teaching hospitals in the nation!


End file.
